Effects of Race/Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status on Health Information-Seeking, Confidence, and Trust

Abstract

Improving the development and delivery of health information intended for minority and vulnerable populations may help reduce existing disparities in health information-seeking and care.

Health Literacy, Information Seeking, and Trust in Information in Haitians

“…Data from the 2007 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) indicate that respondents with lower educational attainment who completed the 2007 HINTS were less likely to seek health information and had decreased confidence in their ability to obtain health information. 31 …”

“…31 The National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health Care's principal standard centers on providing care that is responsive to diverse cultural health beliefs and practices, preferred languages, and health literacy 36 Similarly, the National Action to Improve Health Literacy emphasizes the need to support and expand local efforts to provide adult education, English language instruction, and culturally and linguistically appropriate health information services in the community. Culturally-tailored education programs have been developed with increasing frequency and shown to improve health-related knowledge and knowledge of the English language among disadvantaged populations.…”

The correlation between socioeconomic status and health self-management in the elderly

“…Such people have better economic standing, medical care, and problem-solving skills; at an advanced age, they would consult physicians for medical treatment in a timely manner and favour the establishment of a good lifestyle. However, the elderly with low education levels have poor problem-solving skills, tend to live in rural areas, have fewer health care resources, and lack a proper approach to health care, therefore health-promoting behaviours such as medical treatment and health care and health self-management are poor [13].…”

Patient Perspectives on EMS Alternate Destination Models

“…Although this study did not explore explanations for these differences, there is ample literature supporting the existence of decreased trust in the healthcare system and decreased access to care among minority patients. 30,31 Our results suggest that patients are likely to agree with and prefer redesigned EMS models that include transport to alternative destinations, although support from some minority groups may be more modest. We additionally found high levels of agreement with shared decision-making between EMS, the patient and the patient's physician in conjunction with increased bi-directional information exchange between EMS and other parts of the healthcare system.…”